


Water of the Womb

by the_wordbutler



Series: Motion Practice [26]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Family Drama, M/M, Original Character(s), motion practice universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-20
Updated: 2014-06-20
Packaged: 2018-02-05 10:25:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1815214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_wordbutler/pseuds/the_wordbutler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Simon Barnes’s baby brother is born while he’s at preschool.</p><p>This is the story of between then and now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Water of the Womb

**Author's Note:**

> This story is probably farther from canon than any other, as it completely fabricates Bucky’s family and family history. I blame tag-fic and tumblr, really. It also serves as part one of a two-part Barnes family saga; the second story, “Degrees of Consanguinity,” will hopefully premiere August 1. Also, “Degrees of Consanguinity” will have a much more traditional narrative structure than this story.
> 
> Most of the credit for this story goes to _Political Animals_ gifsets, anarialm, Jen, and saranoh. And as always, thanks to Jen and saranoh, who suffer the pain of my stories with grace.
> 
> The title is taken from a quotation: “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.”

**I.**

Simon’s baby brother is born while he’s at preschool.

Nobody tells him right away, either, so even after his nana picks him up and drives him back to her house, they eat shortbread cookies and play with the old toy trucks that live in Nana’s basement just like any other day. It’s only when his dad picks him up, his smile bigger than anything Simon’s ever seen, that Simon finds out he’s a big brother.

James Buchanan Barnes arrives home a couple days later, sort of orange-pink and screaming.

“You’ll love each other,” his mom says.

Simon’s not so sure.

 

**II.**

Jimmy cries all the time when he’s tiny, puts Simon’s toys in his mouth the second he can crawl around, and chases after Simon the second he learns to walk. Simon avoids him, hiding on the top bunk of what will someday be their bunk beds or climbing the tree in the backyard. 

“It’ll get better once he’s older,” his mom promises.

When Jimmy’s almost three, he offers Simon half his ice cream sandwich on a hot summer day. “All done,” he says, sticky melted ice cream running down his wrist.

“Thanks,” Simon says, and Jimmy beams.

It fixes everything.

 

**III.**

At six, Jimmy learns both their middle names and starts calling him “Augie.”

He tags along on his heels for days, repeating their names like a broken record—“I’m James Buchanan, you’re Simon Augustus”—and Simon considers knocking him down in the mud. Their mom smiles and ruffles their hair; their dad smirks and lights a cigarette.

Finally, Simon loses his temper and shoves Jimmy at the bus stop. “Stop it!” he shouts while Jimmy stares up at him from the grass. “Why can’t you just call me my name?”

Jimmy shrugs. “Because you never call me Bucky,” he replies.

 

**IV.**

He stands in the hallway and listens to them fight.

The sound carries through the house, even with Jimmy’s bedroom door closed, and his father’s booming voice echoes as he leans against the wall. Jimmy’s the very picture of rebellion, human dynamite that storms out of the house every time he’s mad and disappears from school before the first bell. He hardly speaks to anybody, Simon included.

Simon closes his eyes.

His mother’s cries wail like a siren.

In the morning, Jimmy glares at his Captain Crunch. “What are you doing?” Simon asks.

Jimmy shakes his head. “I don’t know.”

 

**V.**

He’s a senior in high school when his parents sit him down to explain that Jimmy’s moving across the country to live with Aunt Evelyn.

“It’s for the best,” his mom says, but her eyes are red and puffy. “He’s so angry, he’s failing out of school, I—”

She shakes her head. Across the kitchen table, his dad chain smokes.

After, Simon finds Jimmy out on the tire swing, his toes pushing him along. “You straighten up,” he says, “I bet they’ll let you come back.”

“Go to hell,” Jimmy sneers, but his eyes are red and puffy, too.

 

**VI.**

Jimmy visits at Christmas, Easter, and one week in the summer. Simon adjusts to life as an only child and starts college a couple towns away. He stops by for Sunday dinner and pretends everything’s normal.

He asks about Jimmy occasionally, their faces pinching every time. They string platitudes together—he’s always _fine_ or _good_ or _doing okay_ —and ask Simon to pass the green beans.

That summer, all Jimmy’s stories involve a kid named Steve, a “scrawny punk who never backs down.”

His mom smiles sweetly. “It’s nice you finally made a good friend,” she says.

Simon knows better.

 

**VII.**

Jimmy’s six months from the Army when he sits their parents down, drags his fingers through his hair, and admits what Simon suspected two years ago: that he’s in love with the scrawny punk, that he wants to marry him someday, that he’s dated plenty of girls but Steve’s different. 

Their mom cries. Their dad grabs his smokes and stands out on the back porch. Later, they tell him he’s confused, that he’s bent, that he’s hurting the family and God.

Simon keeps his eyes trained on the floor and his mouth shut.

Jimmy stops visiting at all, after that.

 

**VIII.**

Jimmy sends the family a wedding invitation—cheap but nice, ivory paper with some silver trim. Simon fishes it out of the trash after dinner, shaking off the coffee grounds and the corn husks. It’s the first they’ve heard from Jimmy in a year. 

He sits out on the tire swing with the invitation, his toes pushing him along. He tries to imagine his brother with another guy—and then, tries to imagine his brother at all, they’ve spent so long apart.

That night, he sends an e-mail: _sorry i’ll miss your wedding, but seriously, congratulations_.

His brother never replies.

 

**IX.**

Eventually, Simon finds a job with a big accounting firm and moves to the city. He works fourteen- and sixteen-hour days, eats greasy burgers at his desk, and dives into the next ledger. He visits his parents once a month, basking in their praise—he’s a hard worker, a good son, a charming man, the pride of the family. 

Every once in a while, they mention Jimmy: he’s working on a communications degree; he’s minoring in Spanish; he’s the husband of an _attorney_ ; he’s expecting a baby.

Simon strings platitudes together and asks them to pass the green beans.

 

**X.**

Simon’s niece is born while he’s in Salt Lake City.

Nobody calls to tell him, either, so he only finds out after a sixteen-hour day, checking his cell phone for the first time since that morning as he strips out of his work clothes. _Baby showed up around eleven this morning_ , the text reads, and Simon rubs his eyes until the words clear. _Dorothea Evelyn. She’s doing good, Lana’s a champ. Text you a picture once I pry her away from Steve._

Simon stares at the message for a long time, his shirt off and belt open.

He never replies.

 

**XI.**

He’s in Detroit the weekend of Dorothea’s christening, but he sends a card with money in it.

He’s in San Jose the weekend of Dorothea’s first birthday, but he enlists a coworker’s help in buying a gift.

He’s always in Memphis or Jacksonville or Tulsa, but he always asks the lady at the Kroger if he can add a book of stamps to his bag of protein bars and Gatorade. And he always receives a thank you note in Steve’s crisp handwriting.

“You could settle down,” his mom says one Sunday. “Bucky did.”

“You never call him Bucky,” Simon replies.

 

**XII.**

Dot’s nearly three when Simon meets her for the first time, her blue eyes wide as she peeks out from behind Steve’s legs. “She’s shy,” he explains, and Simon forces a tiny smile.

At his husband’s shoulder, Jimmy purses his lips.

At the Dairy Queen, Dot insists on dancing to every song on the radio. Steve reels her back in for bites of her sundae and quick mouth-wipes. Jimmy and Simon each stare at their shakes.

After, they stand outside the apartment, their shoulders almost brushing. “It’s good to see you,” Simon says.

“You, too,” Jimmy replies.

Simon knows better.

 

**XIII.**

The changes to his parents’ house creep in like cancer: photographs on the mantle, artwork on the refrigerator, greeting cards on his mother’s dresser. He counts them as she picks earrings for her birthday dinner, six in all.

His mother chuckles. “Steve writes thank you notes from Dot when we send her gifts.”

“I didn’t know you sent her gifts,” Simon replies.

At dinner, his parents talk about their granddaughter. He orders another beer, an excuse to avoid the silences between them.

At one point, his mother smiles and says, “We love you too, of course.”

Simon’s not so sure.

 

**XIV.**

When he earns a big raise, his parents ask about his friends.

When he’s promoted, they ask whether he’s dating.

When he receives the biggest bonus of his life, he heads to a bar instead of his parents’ house. He meets a girl there who smiles with her teeth and laughs at his jokes. When he whispers in her ear, she squeezes his thigh and leads him out onto the street.

They date for six months, until they’re yelling instead of laughing. When she throws his key at him before storming off, he’s relieved instead of sad.

It fixes nothing.

 

**XV.**

He stands on his hotel balcony and listens to the city.

Phoenix is dry and windy, even in the dark, and the city lights twinkle as he leans against the railing. He’s on the last day of a three-week audit, body sore uncomfortable office chairs and eyes aching from computer screens. 

He closes his eyes and sways with the wind.

The sounds of the city rise up around him like a symphony.

In the morning, he sends a text: _what are you doing this weekend? thought i might stop by on my way home from phoenix._

His brother never replies.

**Author's Note:**

> In honor of the second birthday of the MPU, I am hosting a Motion Practice Friday--you know, the day I answer real questions from real Motion Practitioners--[over on my tumblr](http://the-wordbutler.tumblr.com/post/89256637177/the-mpuabration). You should check it out! 
> 
> Otherwise: thank you all for reading, commenting, and enjoying this crazy world that now features entirely new characters not native to canon at all and yet important to the growth and development of our heroes. I don't necessarily know how we got here, but man, I'm glad we did.


End file.
